17 replies to this topic

[alisonjc]

I have been referred to an orthopaedic surgeon for a suspected grade 3 ankle sprain ie complete ligament tear. Apparently there is 'no discernible endpoint' to the range of motion (can you say 'ewwwwwwwwwww'?). There's a possibility a reconstruction might be necessary
Has anyone had a sprain like this or a reconstruction? Any good stories of wonderful recoveries? I am seeing Mark Blackney in East Melbourne - anyone worked with him before?

Edited by alisonjc, 25 May 2007 - 08:54 AM.

[brizza]

i had an inversion sprain which completely ruptured the lateral ligament in 1986 and had multiple sprains in the years afterwards,i did recover completely without surgery and was only out for two weeks initially and only strapped it when i had sprained it for a day or so,i thought i would get osteoarthritis from all the trauma but so far so good.

[sunny1]

alisonjc, I have been reading your posts for some time now and am sorry to read that you have such an injury. I haven't had any experience with this degree of injury but wish you a speedy recovery and a gradual return to running soon!

How did you do it??  

[alisonjc]

sunny1, on May 26 2007, 07:53 AM, said:

alisonjc, I have been reading your posts for some time now and am sorry to read that you have such an injury. I haven't had any experience with this degree of injury but wish you a speedy recovery and a gradual return to running soon!

How did you do it??  

I had a very heavy fall when I was running on an uneven river path at twilight. When I was in my teens I had a lot of injuries to that ankle so this one may have been 'the last straw'. 8 days until I see the surgeon so I am trying to be as positive as possible

[Roffy]

Hi alisonjc, bad luck re the ankle. A few things, firstly, Mark Blackney in my opinon is excellent. I had some ankle surgery from him about 2 years ago, nice guy, very professional etc. I am also an osteopath and anyone I think needs a specialist ankle consult I send to Mark Blackney as well. Have you had an MRI to assess real damage? Also I hope they compared your good ankle to the injured one as there can be a huge variance between people in range of motion and end feel, i.e. your good ankle may not have a very discernable end point either. Did you hear a snap or pop at the time of injury? If not maybe the strain isnt that bad. How old is the injury? These things normally rehab quite well, and for a runner just strappping it could get you on the road quite quickly provided you stay on level training paths and can run pain free. My experience is to save ankle surgery until absolutely necessary, I am not anti-surgery its just that ankles are very reactive to being "fiddled" with, and the recovery is quite slow following surgery. Hope there is some useful information in that lot somewhere.

[alisonjc]

Roffy, on May 26 2007, 10:07 PM, said:

Hi alisonjc, bad luck re the ankle. A few things, firstly, Mark Blackney in my opinon is excellent. I had some ankle surgery from him about 2 years ago, nice guy, very professional etc. I am also an osteopath and anyone I think needs a specialist ankle consult I send to Mark Blackney as well.

thanks for your input Roffey! I'm trying to be bothe calm and informed about the situation - these are not always compatible  
the trouble with Mark Blackney is he isn't taking any new appointments until February! And when his receptionist asked could I wait that long I said no! I am seeing a bloke at LaTrobe meical centre, Jim K? (can't recall at the mo)

Quote

Have you had an MRI to assess real damage? Also I hope they compared your good ankle to the injured one as there can be a huge variance between people in range of motion and end feel, i.e. your good ankle may not have a very discernable end point either. Did you hear a snap or pop at the time of injury? If not maybe the strain isnt that bad. How old is the injury? These things normally rehab quite well, and for a runner just strappping it could get you on the road quite quickly provided you stay on level training paths and can run pain free.

so far I haven't had any scans - my physio has just suggested I see a surgeon as after 8 weeks there's been no improvement in stability, and it's still quite sore after exercise, even with strapping. The other ankle is quite floppy (as are my wrists LOL) but there is a a clear and stable endpoint to its range of motion. I didn't notice any snap on my ankle but that's becuase I fell very heavily onto my other knee and I was more worried about that at the time

Quote

My experience is to save ankle surgery until absolutely necessary, I am not anti-surgery its just that ankles are very reactive to being "fiddled" with, and the recovery is quite slow following surgery. Hope there is some useful information in that lot somewhere.

I agree with you and so does my physio - I was horrified when he made the suggestion but I have a lot of confidence in him so will see the surgeon and hope he is also cautious.
thanks for your help!

Edited by alisonjc, 28 May 2007 - 06:55 AM.

[Louise]

I had a grade 3 tear on the downward ligament (forgotten its name) on the outside of the ankle a couple of years ago. Along with matching grade 2 and 1 tears on the other 2 ligaments. I was in pain for about a month, and took a further 2 months off running.

The physio threatened me with surgery if it didn't reattach. It did.

I healed slowly, but had no dramas once I started running again. Still none.

Good luck!

[brizza]

Louise, on May 28 2007, 01:37 PM, said:

I had a grade 3 tear on the downward ligament (forgotten its name) on the outside of the ankle a couple of years ago. Along with matching grade 2 and 1 tears on the other 2 ligaments. I was in pain for about a month, and took a further 2 months off running.

The physio threatened me with surgery if it didn't reattach. It did.

I healed slowly, but had no dramas once I started running again. Still none.

Good luck!

i believe it takes  ayear to reattach if you don't tear it again in that period

[alisonjc]

Back from the surgeon - x-rays have demonstrated a detached ligament (well doh!).
Becuase it hasn't responded to 2 months of physio/rehab exercises and is still very niggly and painful the surgeon suspects either a bruised (talus) bone, a crack in the bone or a broken-off piece of bone. Next step is an MRI on Friday then back again to the surgeon to see what is found and what treatment is necessary.
Anyone had any experience of this type of injury?

[FreeDickland]

alisonjc, on Jun 6 2007, 09:15 AM, said:

Back from the surgeon - x-rays have demonstrated a detached ligament (well doh!).
Becuase it hasn't responded to 2 months of physio/rehab exercises and is still very niggly and painful the surgeon suspects either a bruised (talus) bone, a crack in the bone or a broken-off piece of bone. Next step is an MRI on Friday then back again to the surgeon to see what is found and what treatment is necessary.
Anyone had any experience of this type of injury?

Alisonjc
May be worthwhile asking re ultrasound (on my own experience - SPOILER here - never rely on case of one) to rule out/in possible tendon damage - which - again in my case - went undiagnosed for over 10 years whilst multiple other diagnoses were investigated and discarded.  Other possibility as you note is bone fragment - these may well lurk inside ankle joint where they chew up cartilage and may also emerge at irregular intervals cause damage to tendons etc.

Best wishes with diagnosis and recovery.

[brizza]

alisonjc, on Jun 6 2007, 09:15 AM, said:

Back from the surgeon - x-rays have demonstrated a detached ligament (well doh!).
Becuase it hasn't responded to 2 months of physio/rehab exercises and is still very niggly and painful the surgeon suspects either a bruised (talus) bone, a crack in the bone or a broken-off piece of bone. Next step is an MRI on Friday then back again to the surgeon to see what is found and what treatment is necessary.
Anyone had any experience of this type of injury?

i can tell you anything you need to know about this thing,you probably have a fracture somewhere,possibly a talar dome fracture,wait for the mri result-briz

[alisonjc]

brizza, on Jun 11 2007, 05:07 PM, said:

i can tell you anything you need to know about this thing,you probably have a fracture somewhere,possibly a talar dome fracture,wait for the mri result-briz

I knew I shouldn't have googled talar dome fracture
did you have one Brizza? what happened? Are you ok now?
I'll have the MRI results tomorrow - fingers are crossed for severe bruising as the best outcome!

[brizza]

alisonjc, on Jun 13 2007, 10:18 AM, said:

I knew I shouldn't have googled talar dome fracture
did you have one Brizza? what happened? Are you ok now?
I'll have the MRI results tomorrow - fingers are crossed for severe bruising as the best outcome!

i'm a physio who specialises in biomechanics and have been looking at peoples bods for years

[alisonjc]

Good news! No fracture! (Only severe bruising).
Bad news! No lateral or posterior ligament to speak of. Reconstruction next Wednesday

[hungry4it]

Ouch it brings it all back.

The ortho surgeon I was referred to said he didn't do ankles. So I kept my injury stopped running got unfit and then decided to start swimming and cycling. The swimming really hurt especially with flippers, but have just had a fantastic 1st seasons of tri's (keeping the anlkle straped and running no more than 5km)

Now exactly 1 year from my injury movement is still not what it was but I ran a pb at freo half and am running my 1st marathon in 3 weeks.

On the negatives it has taken me a year to get back to where I was.

On the positives I have discovered tris, am stronger and faster than I've ever been and avoided surgery.

I thoroughly reccommend acupunture. I now have a compensation hip problem but the acupunture is working wonders miles better than deep tissue massage. It didn't work as well on the ankle but still helped (unfortunately more painful but worth it).

Hope this helps. Also I didn't do it but wish I had deep water running apparently you don't lose any of your speed. Please don't lay down and die for 3 months like I did not quite knowing what to do.

[Slowmovintone]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post to the site and I have to say already that it has been worth signing up.  I am currently nursing an injury to my left ankle.  I was out jogging on a dirt trail and rolled the ankle.  The tendon didnt break, but inside it tore a section of bone away where the tendon is attached.  I have been off it now for 3 weeks and just started running again this week.  The problem is that the area is still quite swollen.  It doesnt really hurt and my run (although a bit stiff and awkward) went pretty well.  Am I destined to have a large, deformed looking, swollen ankle?

[alisonjc]

Woot! 12 weeks post-reconstruction and I'm back running 30 sec run 1min walk but I DON'T CARE I :heart: my physio

[Beki]

Yeehaa!  Fabulous news